Joshua Rafofsky and TiVo Inc. can't live without each other.
Rafofsky, a 33-year-old technology consultant from Hancock Park, owns three TiVo digital video recorders -- two to record multiple shows that might be on at the same time, and another just to tinker with.
"I know it sounds weird," Rafofsky said, "but TiVo's almost become a member of my family."
TiVo executives feel much the same way about Rafofsky, though they have never met him.
"The one thing we have is our customers," said TiVo board member Randy Komisar. "They love us, which is why we're still alive."
Throughout TiVo's precarious existence, enthusiastic -- some would say evangelical -- customers like Rafofsky have kept the company afloat in the face of repeated predictions that it would fold. That devotion matters more than ever as the Alviso, Calif.-based company struggles anew to convince investors, potential partners and new customers that it can compete in a DVR market it helped create.
Since January, TiVo has lost a key partnership and reshuffled its executive ranks as well- financed competitors have gained market share. TiVo has never had a profitable quarter, and its stock has fallen 37% since the beginning of the year.
"They've really taken a beating," said Alan Bezoza, cable analyst with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., an investment firm based in Arlington, Va. "Clearly their long-term fundamentals are deteriorating."
TiVo, founded in 1997, helped introduce a new category of consumer electronics: hard-disk-based video recorders that allow viewers to pause and rewind live television as well as tailor recording schedules to their personal tastes.
A Box -- and a Verb
Among its fans, "TiVo" quickly gained currency as a verb like "Xerox" and later "Google." Outgoing Federal Communications Commission Chairman Michael K. Powell spoke for many when he called TiVo "God's machine."
More than 3 million households have TiVo's particular brand of religion. Another 3 million more have similar but less expensive recorders provided by cable and satellite companies. Those companies, once thought to be TiVo's strongest potential allies, are now its biggest threat -- with the deep pockets and wide subscriber bases that TiVo lacks.
